Mlalaji

The Sleeper

He was only supposed to be watching the goats.

According to East African lore, Mlalaji fell asleep while tending his flock. But as he sleeps, he dreams of another world—a world remarkably like ours.

Our world.

The strange part is what happens if he wakes.

The story says that if Mlalaji ever opens his eyes, his dream will end.

And when the dream ends, so do we.

So perhaps it's best not to wake him.

This sculpture presents Mlalaji as a simple wooden mask: a long, quietly expressive face, lightly decorated, with enormous closed eyes and a small, perfectly round mouth.

He looks peaceful.

Deeply peaceful.

Possibly too peaceful, considering that the continued existence of the universe apparently depends on his staying asleep.

There is something wonderfully strange about the idea. We go about our ordinary lives—working, eating, arguing, falling in love, building things, making plans—never stopping to consider that somewhere, impossibly far away, a tired shepherd is sleeping beneath the night sky and dreaming all of this into existence.

Perhaps our entire world is nothing more than a very elaborate dream.

Perhaps Mlalaji is dreaming about us right now.

Perhaps you are part of the dream.

And perhaps, somewhere out there, one very sleepy man is beginning to stir.

Don't worry.

His eyes are still closed.

For now.